Students with lit candles attend a vigil on the campus of the University of North Carolina. Credit: Reuters

Students at the University of North Carolina held a candlelight vigil for the three Muslim students shot and killed, while Muslim activists and family members continued to demand that US state and federal authorities investigate the suspect for possible hate crimes.

Namee Barakat, father of shooting victim Deah Shaddy Barakat, cries as a video is played during a vigil. Credit: Reuters

Students gather during a vigil on the campus of the University of North Carolina. Credit: Reuters

Craig Stephen Hicks has been charged with killing 23-year-old Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Mohammad, 21, and her sister 19-year-old Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha. Relatives claim the three were killed for being Muslim.

The father of two of the victims says that one of his daughters had previously told her family about Hicks having a problem with the way she looked.

This was not a dispute over a parking space; this was a hate crime. This man had picked on my daughter and her husband a couple of times before, and he talked with them with his gun in his belt. And they were uncomfortable with him, but they did not know he would go this far.

Forty-six-year-old Craig Stephen Hicks has been arrested and charged with three counts of murder following the deaths of 23-year-old Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Mohammad, 21, and 19-year-old Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha.

NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams has been suspended without pay for six months after admitting last week that a story he told about coming
under fire while on a helicopter during the Iraq war was not true.

"By his actions, Brian has jeopardised the trust millions of Americans place in NBC News," NBC Universal Chief Executive Steve Burke said in a network statement. "His actions are inexcusable and this suspension is severe and appropriate."